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Buzz worthy: Swarm of bees delays Sox-Yanks

3/18/14: A swarm of bees caused Red Sox left fielder Mike Carp to approach the umpires and delay the game seven minutes in the third inning

By Bryan Hoch
/
MLB.com |

TAMPA, Fla. -- There is always a buzz in the air when the Yankees and Red Sox meet on the field, and that was especially true for the latest Grapefruit League affair between the historic rivals.

A heavy swarm of bees delayed Tuesday's game for seven minutes in the middle of the third inning.

Red Sox left fielder Mike Carp was the first player on the field to notice the heavy swarm, which was concentrated in the area of the left-field visitors' bullpen at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

"Not a big fan of bees flying around my head," Carp said. "It's just one of those things I've never seen happen -- or, I've seen it happen, but it's never happened to me. I'm sure they'll get their laughs on ESPN tonight."

Carp walked toward the infield and pointed the issue out to the umpiring crew, and the players congregated in the middle of the field while the grounds crew sprayed the area. Carp estimated that there were "a couple thousand" bees.

"There were a lot. It was hard to see," Carp said. "They were honey bees, so it was nothing that was too dangerous, but it was still shocking to see a swarm of bees flying around you in a baseball game."

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira had an unorthodox suggestion to fix the problem. Teixeira emerged from the first-base dugout holding two plastic bottles of honey, waving them to get the attention of the grounds crew.

"I'm a big peanut butter and honey guy; love it. So I always know where the honey is," Teixeira said. "What I thought was, 'If you could just do a line of honey out to the parking lot, the bees would follow it and leave us alone.'"